This year you started your first year in elementary school. You are a Kindergartener! It is something that you have been enjoying so much. You love your teacher, Mrs. McCartney, and you have made a lot of friends. You tell us that sometimes you look out for the kids on the playground or in class that seem to be alone and try to be a friend to them. That makes me and your dad so proud of you! When you were a baby, Daddy gave you a special baby blessing. In that blessing he blessed you that you would be a good friend. He blessed that you would reach out to those who didn't have friends, and that you would show love to all those around you. This is exactly the kind of person that you are.
We are proud of you for a lot of things. You are a very good student, and have impressed us and your teachers with your writing and reading abilities. You are getting better and better every day it seems! You are also a very talented artist. We knew that art would be one of your talents and interests when you were 2 years old and already starting to draw people. You can (and will when you have time) happily sit at our dining room table for hours and draw. You love drawing, period, and fancy things are #1. But what you love even more is drawing with me. It is one of your favorite things to do with me, and something that I have been trying to do with you more frequently. You yearn for special one-on-one time with your dad or me. It is something that you need and that is really important to you. Most nights when we tuck you into bed you will try to talk about things that you think will be interesting to us, just so we will stay with you longer and talk. Sometimes we are so ready for our "quiet time" that we try to make it really short, but other times one of us will stay and talk with you for a while because we enjoy talking to you too.
When you were a baby we would sometimes call you "stone-cold Ella" because you wouldn't smile for anyone besides me and your dad. I would have to tell people, "I promise she's is a happy baby! She smiles at home all the time!" The other night we went to Red Robin (your choice for your birthday dinner because you love the free sundae that they give to the birthday person - ice cream might be your favorite thing in the world) and we had the workers sing happy birthday to you because we thought it would make you feel special. Well, you just stared at them the whole time with no expression on your face. It made Daddy and I laugh pretty hard. I know that it did make you feel good and special, having them sing to you, but you are a bit shy sometimes and don't know how to react to things that put you on the spot. I was the same way when I was little. You are coming more and more out of your shell, though. When you are with us, other family members, or friends that you feel comfortable with, no one would ever know that you are shy! You love to sing beautifully loud and vibratory songs, act wild and crazy (especially with Isaac - right now you love to run circles around the inside of the house calling each other "old man" in southern accents and cracking up), and dance your little heart out!
One thing that I love the most about our relationship is that we have a lot of inside jokes. I can't believe that I have a child who is old enough to have inside jokes with! Something that makes us laugh every time is talking is really exaggerated Southern accents. You are actually really good at it. Something else that makes us laugh every time is when Isaac tries to talk in his Southern accent. I'm laughing right now to myself thinking about it... he's just not quite there yet.
You love those "tween" shows on the Disney channel and will do huge exaggerated laughs during the first few minutes before I turn it off, to show me that I should keep it on since it is so enjoyable. I'm just not ready for my little girl to watch those shows yet. Let's stick with Nick Jr and PBS a little longer. You also love all things fancy, and love drawing all things fancy. Most of your drawings have swirly or heart embellishments on them. You love being a "mom" to baby Eve, and especially love that we just started letting you pick her up and walk with her. You love mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream ice cream, my homemade prosciutto and caramelized onion pizza, and pink lemonade.
You are so loved, Ella. Our family wouldn't be nearly as awesome if it wasn't for you!
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The celebrations!
Dec 10th: This was the day of Ella's actual birthday. For breakfast she had two of her favorite things: a smoothie and a donut, then opened her presents from us before Craig left for work. She got a new awesome scooter and a couple of other small things. It also happened to be a snow day, so there was no school! It was supposed to snow 3-5 inches, but ended up mostly just raining. Oh, VA, how I love thee. We had Ella and Isaac's great friends (next door neighbors) over for a few hours to play during the day to play, then Craig's parents came over for a little while to visit the b-day girl. All of the kids were excited to spend that time with their friends and grandparents! We had a family dinner that night at Red Robin. It is Ella's go-to birthday dinner... not because the food is her favorite, but because the ice cream at the end is. It was a great day!
Ella with her breakfast
Yay for time with grandma and grandpa! They gave her a helmet to go with her scooter, and The Sound of Music dvd and cd. We have already watched the movie, and Isaac and Ella both loved it!
What she looked like on her big day
What we looked like on her big day
Dec 14th: This was the day of Ella's birthday party. Ella invited some of her closest friends to participate is some of her favorite activities. My dad (papa) came to teach an art lesson to all of the kids. It was really cool for them to have a professional artist there to teach them a few techniques (not sure how much of it they followed... but hey...), and to get them in the flow. They are did a great job!
I think both papa and Ella did a great job!
After the canvas painting Craig read cute book Cinder Edna to the kids, while I painted their nails
After that was snack and cake eating. Ella wanted a chocolate and cookies and cream ice cream cake, and I had a friends from church make it for her. It turned out really cute, and it tasted delicious!
Even baby Eve got to partake!
After that there was a little dance partying before Ella opened her presents. They ended up doing a conga line. Ha!
Present time! She got some really great things. Mostly arts and crafts things, which is really great for her!
After that they ran wild upstairs until their parents picked them up. It was a fun party, and I think Ella felt very loved and special. She is blessed to have such great little girls in her life!
After the party, Grammy and Papa stayed for a few minutes for Ella to open her gift from them. It was a bracelet making kit, and she loved it!
... and then we all rested.
4 comments:
I love that birthday party. So simple and cute with Craig reading the book and you painting nails. She will love these memories. You guys are pretty great parents.
Looks like so much fun! What a great birthday! She is such a sweet kid!
Your letter to Ella made me cry. You're artistic in words as well. So sweet. Happy Birthday Ella!
This was a really beautiful post. Thanks for sharing your love! It definitely made my night. Can't wait to get to know Ella, and all your beautiful kids, more!
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